When comparing your dx50 to the x5, was it the dx50 on its own, or was it hooked up to your BH2?

I almost exclusively used the HO on both, as to eliminate any secondary influence on the sound. I hooked up the BH2 and an E12 for a bit, and I liked the X5 with the LO better. The X5 HO seemed too warm to me. The bass bled into the mids IMO, which I dont like. The LO seemed cleaner/less colored.

But for a stand alone DAP, DX50 > X5 no contest IMO. The wife knows nothing about hifi audio and I had her listen to the 2 without telling her anything, and she chose the DX50 by a large margin too.

I guess a lot of it comes down to 'do you like the Fiio house sound'? If you like the X3 sound, you'll like the X5. If you like the DX50's more neutral sound, you'll love the DX90 (i bet). Personally, I like uncolored sound, which I think iBasso excels at. (or what they do add in, I like)Edited by MCImes - 3/14/14 at 9:27am

When comparing your dx50 to the x5, was it the dx50 on its own, or was it hooked up to your BH2?

I almost exclusively used the HO on both, as to eliminate any secondary influence on the sound. I hooked up the BH2 and an E12 for a bit, and I liked the X5 with the LO better. The X5 HO seemed too warm to me. The bass bled into the mids IMO, which I dont like. The LO seemed cleaner/less colored.

But for a stand alone DAP, DX50 > X5 no contest IMO. The wife knows nothing about hifi audio and I had her listen to the 2 without telling her anything, and she chose the DX50 by a large margin too.

Interesting, what about X5 line out to BH2/E12 etc. vs DX50 line out to BH2/E12 etc. ?

Via the line out, it becomes closer to a toss up. Sound wise, I thought the TI DAC on the X5 had slightly better instrument separation, but almost too much on some recordings, to the point that an instrument was too localized on the sound stage.

Overall, my wife called the DX50 more realistic and musical and closer to being at a live performance. I agree with that assessment. The X5 is a good player, and many will like it, but I prefer the Wolfson DAC/DX50 sound. I'll be interested to hear a DX90 to compare.

I have not knowingly heard a Sabre DAC (although im sure i probably have unknowingly), but I enjoy the Wolfson 8740 in the DX50 a lot.

Using the LO on the X5 removed the lows bleeding into the mids, so thats a result of their amp I guess. Even Amped, I liked the DX50 by a hair, but it becomes much closer when using the LO. Also, when using bass boost on the amps, I thought the DX50 sounded better when boosted. The X5 got a little muddy when using a secondary bass boost.Edited by MCImes - 3/14/14 at 9:35am

Like everyone else I'm very excited about the DX90, but the only question I have is did Ibasso ever really address the volume going to max issue for the DX50? It looks like some people weren't even touching their DX50 and the volume shoots to max randomnly (even while the DX50 is sitting on a table)? This would annoy the heck out of me, not to mention damage my ears. I hope the DX90 does not suffer from the same "issue" or that Ibasso has identified what was causing it and fixed it.

Like everyone else I'm very excited about the DX90, but the only question I have is did Ibasso ever really address the volume going to max issue for the DX50? It looks like some people weren't even touching their DX50 and the volume shoots to max randomnly (even while the DX50 is sitting on a table)? This would annoy the heck out of me, not to mention damage my ears. I hope the DX90 does not suffer from the same "issue" or that Ibasso has identified what was causing it and fixed it.

Last time I talked to them about it and that was not long ago they still did not have a solution for it. I have the exact same fear you have and if the DX90 is also impacted, I am willing to pull out. I don't want to do what I am doing right now with the DX50 that is connect it to an amp so I won't have this issue. Somehow on the LO, it does not happen so go figure. I truly hope the DX90 is not impacted by that.

The reason it does not happen on LO is that it is normally already at or near max.

If nobody is able to reliably reproduce the problem it is very difficault to fix.

Yea I m not even sure if there is anything to be fixed anymore.

I can recall a few users from early days reporting this but haven't really seen much ever since 1.2.2 f/w even more units are being sold world wide.... I had it happened to me once on 1.0.0 but had never since had it, and when it happened the unit was stuttering a bit trying to play a 24/88.1 file and I kept pressing the + a few times as it didn't respond. I just unplug the cable and didn't really thought much about it until seeing it got all blown up on headfi LOL. To me it's a side effect from other bugs which make the processor unresponsive and if you happen to be changing volume it might get locked going up or down.Edited by kkcc - 3/14/14 at 9:24pm